


The Aquarium

by elisaesposito



Category: Aquaman (2018), The Shape of Water (2017)
Genre: Bullying, Childhood, Fish Friends, Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-18 08:58:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16991970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elisaesposito/pseuds/elisaesposito
Summary: Ever since she first started at school three years before, Elisa would always journey afterwards to the aquarium close to Home. It was large and had a rather big range of fishes to see - Elisa’s favourites were the sharks - and truthfully, it was probably one of her most favourite places in the world to be. She often found herself sitting there for a few hours, signing to the fishes and telling them about her day, ignoring the other people that might pass by.BB!Elisa short one-shot inspired by Aquaman.





	The Aquarium

**Author's Note:**

> I just watched Aquaman and there are a lot of similarities in him and his story to how I view Elisa and hers, and the aquarium scene was very similar to something I had kinda always pictured for Elisa but sorta struggled to find the words for. This is a bb!Elisa thing inspired by that scene, by some of the details of Elisa’s childhood given by the novel and by the idea that Elisa was always half-fish so fair warning if you aren’t about those things. If you like this, feel free to send me prompts for more things! Any mistakes are mine completely and this is just meant to be a fun thing.

Ever since she first started at school three years before, Elisa would always journey afterwards to the aquarium close to Home. It was large and had a rather big range of fishes to see - Elisa’s favourites were the sharks - and truthfully, it was probably one of her most favourite places in the world to be. She often found herself sitting there for a few hours, signing to the fishes and telling them about her day, ignoring the other people that might pass by.

The fishes couldn’t understand her, she knew, but she’d always felt a connection to them that she couldn’t quite explain fully. but she considered them her friends, and she felt like they knew she was there when she was.

 _I’m sorry I’m a little later,_ she told them one day as she sat in her usual spot, placing her bag down. _The bus was late._

Elisa had just began to tell the fishes about her day, about the work she'd done at school, when she heard the voice of one of the girls from Home.

“What are you doing here, Mum?”

There were a few girls that she lived with that never actually called her by her real name. Just ‘Mum’, to mock the fact she couldn’t speak like they could.

“Trying to talk to the fishes,” One of the other girls said, moving to kick Elisa’s bag across the room. “Just like a little freak.”

Elisa moved to try to get her bag back and was shoved to the ground.

All of a sudden, there was a loud smack against the glass, which made a small cracking sound, and the girls that had started to harass Elisa gave cries of alarm and moved back.

When Elisa turned to look up, she saw all the fishes were staring out into the room.

There was a shark with its gaze set exactly on her bullies, which Elisa supposed might have been who smacked the glass, and it was baring its teeth in warning.

Elisa slowly got to her feet, her eyes not leaving the fishes.

 _I’m okay_ , she signed. She had no clue what was going on or if she'd be understood, but she had to do something to try and calm her friends. _Thank you._

All of the fishes turned and began swimming around as normal then, and when Elisa turned back, all of the people in the room were far back from her and the glass, with fearful looks on their faces.

Elisa felt the same way, truthfully. She hated Home more than any other place in the world, but she honestly just wanted to get out and go there now.

So she grabbed her bag, moved to the exit and did just that.


End file.
